


The Silent Scourge

by MagicHats-fr (MagicHats)



Category: Flight Rising
Genre: Body Horror, Clan Lore (Flight Rising), Nature Flight (Flight Rising), Nightmares, Non-Graphic Violence, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:13:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27276226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicHats/pseuds/MagicHats-fr
Summary: When a dangerous creature sets up camp within Clan Ibiliven's lands, the clan begins to fall under a strange plague. Aku decides he needs to investigate to find out the source of it all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> While there's nothing really in the way of graphic violence, there is still mild to moderate violence as well as mentions of body horror and some psychological horror throughout. Nothing I think that necessarily warrants any of the big archive warnings but that's not to say that there isn't horror tropes inbound. Just that none of those particularly large warnings really applies. That being said I have given this fic some tags so peruse at your discretion.

Somewhere, deep in the Viridian Labyrinth, near where the borders to Dragonhome and the Tangled woods were, there was a quiet little salt marsh. The dirt was soft and malleable, full of nutrients. It had a small an innocuous hole.

Somewhere, deep in the unforgiving maze, a figure began to _dig deep_. They diverted the salty waters into the hole, and began to push it to be larger and deeper. They only paused once it seemed to be a reasonably good size, and then left. They would come back from time to time, continuously depositing things to their liking and only backing off to let it bake and fester further. They’d stop, every once in a while, to watch an interesting reaction to dumping either plant matter or some poor creature into the pit. Calcification wasn’t _ideal_ for a new wound, but it was a start.

* * *

It’d be a few days before the abrupt flu season really hit Clan Ibiliven, which was somewhat downwind of the strange occurrence. It didn't take long for the illness to take root. The disease was infectious and fast. It grew more difficult to shake off the longer it lingered. It helped a bit that a good chunk of the dragons made for pretty decent medics, but it wouldn’t be enough.

It'd be a few days before the abrupt flu season really hit Clan Ibiliven, which was somewhat downwind of the strange occurrence. It seemed to be nothing more than a passing cold at first, but the disease proved infectious and _fast_. It quickly made it's way through most of the clan, though a great number just assumed it was nothing more than seasonal allergies or the flu. None of them thought much of it at first.

What really bothered Aku was, was when two of the scouts had gotten back from a patrol a couple days after the sickness started to spread. One of the scouts had gotten close to a stranger they’d spotted. The scout didn’t speak up but was frantically gesturing about something and quick to jot down that they'd seen some stranger frolicking about. Any hands or claws that strayed too close to this scout's mouth was swatted away with extreme prejudice. News would eventually break about what others had found in that scout’s mouth once they managed to convince the fellow to open up.

_That_ was enough to Prompt Aku into investigating and assuming it wasn’t just a made-up story.

* * *

“So… we’re going to go look _here_ , where the scout was sent off before the incident” Aku said, pointing to a spot on a map. It seemed almost deliberately away from any of the populated areas of the clan's general territory.

“I would imagine that’s a good idea… but I’d really also rather not have a mouth _literally_ full of teeth” Haren said.

Compared to some of the other scouts, Haren was talented at his occupation. He was great at checking to see if something was up and was sturdy enough to take a couple of hits.

“Don’t worry. You’re going in with me and with a handful of other dragons to back you up if it starts to get rough” Aku replied.

"You don't _really_ mean that. You probably just want to watch me choke on my molars"

"I _do_ mean it. At the very least Soaldsul's gonna shadow us in case whatever this thing is is more magically inclined"

" _Sure_. And I've got red and green spots"

"I promise nothing _that_ bad will happen. We're not really even going to _talk_ to the figure, or at least not _directly_. Just watch them from a distance"

* * *

Aku figured it was a safe shot to also bring in Soaldsul. The stoic little fae was perhaps one of the most powerful mages they had in the clan, even if he wasn't an Archmage. It wouldn’t hurt to have something up their sleeve, even if the elemental odds made it risky for collateral damage on the environment as well. That, and he had enough of a background that he might be able to identify whatever this thing was if he got a good look at it.

Soaldsul was keeping pace well to his right, and thankfully not nearly as chatty as Haren proved to be. They were all in full draconic forms at this point, since it proved easier for braving the densely forested area they occupied when not in the vicinity of the clan's lairspace.

That being said, as soon as they managed to start getting close to the area where the figure was last spotted, Aku felt a migraine begin. He clutched his head as the normal jungle noises seemed to become so much worse.

“Buck up.”

Aku looked at the tiny fae who suddenly spoke up. He seemed to be frosty as ever, but he really could no longer _not_ notice how the fae had started to quietly wheeze with each breath. Soaldsul didn't seemed phased by that development. Aku felt his eyes pinch shut, as even the light was beginning to sting. He glanced ahead to Haren, who was leading the group more by a wide margin. He seemed to be doing alright comparatively. Aside from an occasional sneeze he didn’t seem worse for the wear, much like Soaldsul and his mild wheezing. Aku wondered if it was _only him_ who had a pounding migraine come on.

They'd been following sets of interesting tracks. Interesting, in that aside from aimless wanderings that would occasionally lead to holes in the ground (the sort that Haren pointed out _already existed_ and weren't dug up), they seemed blighted. While Haren wanted to back off, Aku had pointed out that it was likely the person who brought the sickness to them. And if they were so sick the ground seemed to _keel over_ in their wake, they _really_ must be in need of help.

Soon they found what looked like a large pond. A large pond that looked very sick. all the plant life in it or around it looked like it was dying. The scent of Miasma hung thickly in the air, and anything remotely healthy was a few paces distance from the pool's perimeter.

_This must be where the illness is coming from_ Aku thought to himself, trying to ignore the pounding in his head.

His eyes shot open as something abruptly leapt out of the bushes adjacent to Haren’s left with a growl. Haren was thankfully fast enough on his feet that he immediately stepped back a few paces. The gargantuan creature quickly slammed a large, clawed paw down on Haren’s wing. He watched painfully as it then grabbed the wing and started to drag him towards the pool. Thankfully, Haren was a quick enough thinker to hit the creature with a gust bolt to the face before bolting away himself. The wing was bruised, but thankfully that alone wouldn't slow Haren down. He could put enough distance between himself and the large creature to get safe.

Aku felt himself collapse from pain and the creature look at him. He really couldn’t bring himself to start backtracking. At this point it was no longer just his head that was hurting him, as he felt his bones also beginning to ache. He heard the creature growl quite loudly and braced himself for the inevitable worst. He heard the creature begin to lunge forward through the brush, but then felt something cold land in front of him. _It was too cold._ He felt his head give another large pulse of pain at the sudden drop in temperature.

After a few moments, filled with nothing but aching bones as well the feeling of pain radiating from his head, he started to hear Soaldsul start talking to him, thankfully quieter than before.

“Get up. It’s _gone_. We should go back and actually make a plan on what to do next”

That was _also_ why he roped Soaldsul into it. Haren had a decent amount of common sense, but Soaldsul was pragmatic and level-headed enough to have a close call like this not bother him in the slightest. Aku gave a nod and started to slowly make his way back. He didn’t notice when Haren hopped out of a different nearby tree and lent him some help getting back towards the lair.

The further they got away, the more Soaldsul’s and Haren’s symptoms lessened until they disappeared entirely. Aku noticed that his migraine diminished a bit as well. Not necessarily gone, but now _tolerable_. He also didn’t feel like he was going to lose his lunch every three steps. Now it’d gone down to every ten steps before he felt his stomach flip.

They needed to put out a warning, to avoid this area until they could figure out what to do about the situation. They couldn’t just leave it there, least of all if _this_ was where the flu was coming from.

* * *

Meanwhile, the creature returned to their festering pond and simply laid down in it as if it were a pool to soak in. They’d grown tired, but happy the dragons had backed off. They had made leaps and bounds of progress for one day. Tomorrow, they would start _really_ testing the nearby dragons to see whether they could survive in the face of adversity. If they couldn’t, well, a dip in the pool would toughen them up. This was a cozy spot, and they weren't keen on moving unless a better spot was found.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After encountering the Creature, Aku decides to hold a meeting, and some interesting information comes to light.

“Since I know we’re quite a ways away from, well, other clans, I decided to do some investigating since something about that magic seemed different” Soaldsul said to the assembled group.

Aku could read well enough between the lines he either meant academically-oriented, industrialized, or just generally more technologically _advanced_ clans. It was a drawback for living in what would be considered the wilderness. The further away from larger populations, the more difficult it can be to find _reliable_ information.

“So after pouring over what resources I had here, I decided to go to the patches of the Labyrinth that generally get more traffic, to see if somebody’s mentioned anything similar in their clans or—”

At this point Soaldsul started to ramble, which caused Aku to give him a _look_. The migraine lingered still, like a cat which made itself cozy on top of the good part of a book. Soaldsul took the hint and got to the point.

“I’m positive that this should explain it, it is likely one of the creatures mentioned in this flyer” Soaldsul said flatly, handing Aku a flyer and setting down a similar one on the table. Thankfully he’d gotten the hint.

The trio had made it back to the lair, cutting through all of the interwoven personal lairs in the trees and along the ground. After a couple of hours to recuperate from the experience, they decided to meet again in a common area, and to talk it over with some of the others who weren’t sick.

Aku skimmed at first, before his eyebrows raised a bit.

“An _Astral_?”

“Likely of the plague variety given the effect it seems to be having on all of us as well as its immediate area” Soaldsul confirmed.

Aku glanced around to check the others’ reactions. The common area was looking more sparse than usual, with a great number of dragons suddenly _sick_ with the flu. He could assume the small company he’d put together were going to be the only ones in the conversation.

He’d gotten Haren patched up. It’d taken a little more effort than he’d like, with the migraine still there, but he was thankful that he’d picked up some healing magics in his various pursuits. His wings were now a little rough with wear but no longer bruised. Nasty welts left a shadow of where the claws had landed, but they seemed inert for the time being.

He’d also grabbed Nesaini, the closest thing Soaldsul had to a mate, as well as a few other members of the clan’s guard. Yelic, _of_ **_course_** , couldn’t be present as he was not keen on leaving his post at the clan’s hoard unless it really was _that dire_. Ark was present however, sitting and listening attentively, as was Nijini. Compared to Soaldsul and Nesaini, those two were keeping to themselves. Aku figured it was just _luck_ that two of the three dragons in charge of the clan’s guard weren’t sick. The third was off on his own business, however, and proved to be too difficult to find on such short notice.

They were all gathered around a makeshift table in more comfortable mid-forms. Full dragon forms would be more of a tight fit with the size variance they had between each other, even taking into account the area was set up for even the largest of breeds in full forms. Where it had once been commonplace to see the variety of sorts in the clan, it was now empty.

The life of the clan seemed to be fading the more and more dragons seemed to get sick. Sure, it was just a flu _now_ , but the sick were really struggling to get _better_. One hastily made announcement was made to try to keep the sick quarantined, which meant no more casual lunch meetups for many.

“So, where do we go from here?” Aku tentatively asked, leaning into one hand to try to focus on _literally anything_ other than the splitting headache he hadn’t gotten away from.

“I could potentially keep it from getting too close to the lair, but I don’t think I could necessarily oust it from our clan’s territory proper. It also wouldn’t be good for the neighboring clans to just shuffle this onto them” Soaldsul replied.

“Did you try _talking_ to this large beast? It might just be some plague dragon pretending or trying to draw attention to themself” Nesaini remarked, casually crossing her arms. She was a force to be reckoned with, both in terms of fighting capabilities and kindness.

“You’re too nice to give them the benefit of the doubt, they certainly didn’t _seem like_ it wanted to chat—” Haren replied, gesturing to his new welts.

“—I’m just happy I’m doing better than _the last person_ to tussle with them.”

“It’s an Astral. It might not be in it’s nature to talk. It did just nearly rip Haren out of the sky and was shoveling anything it could get it’s claws on into its gross puddle” Soaldsul stated, his frills flicking a bit but staying relatively in the same position.

“I’d say we keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t leave the area they seem to be occupying” Ark said while giving Soaldsul a questioning look.

Haren leaned forward, head resting on interlocked fingers and elbows definitely on the table.

“I don’t think it’s going _anywhere_ anyhow. It was just meandering around from what I could tell, at least before we got close enough to the pool’s vicinity that we could see it. I think it’s probably tryin’ to _avoid_ dragons and is more invested in making sure that pool’s safe than anything else”

“I’m not sure there’s much to do officially if it’s not going out of its way to _attack_ others. Still, we have to get rid of that thing soon before more of our clanmates get even more sick” Ark said while ruffling his feathers. Aku figured they were just nervous given the effect this Astral seemed to have on the clan from such a distance alone.

“Or worse, the environment itself begins to sicken” Nijini followed up.

“We ought to act faster than that. Its location is strategic enough. We sit pretty close, if not directly over, a very strong Nature Leyline. If it manages to dig deep enough, it might make a magic pocket of influence, which usually comes with minor magic veins. That’d get noticed fast in the tangle of leylines that already exist in the Viridian Labyrinth,” Soaldsul stated. His frills were now pressed down, sort of like a frightened parda cub.

Aku resisted the urge to groan at another one of Soaldsul’s lectures.

“In normal spots with multiple types of elemental leylines, it would be a blip that either wouldn’t be noticed or acknowledged as a problem if it was noticed,” Soaldsul continued.

“That’s _hardly_ bad. That’s _not_ uncommon along the borders.” Nesaini pointed out.

“Given we’re so far into the Labyrinth and most of the leylines here are simply just going to be nature-aligned by default because the Behemoth’s proximity, it’ll get noticed fast, which will be bad” Soaldsul concluded, frills evening out now that he had completed yet another train of thought.

“How bad will _that_ be?” Aku asked through gritted teeth.

“Ibiliven would know, the Gladekeeper will know. Everyone who either is already keyed in to the ambient magic or already keeps an eye on the naturally occurring magic around here will know. And given everything that’s already going on in the labyrinth since the armistice was broken…”

“It really could all just _blow up_ in our faces” Aku concluded.

“That is, of course, the worst-case scenario. It would take letting it fester for decades before it started to make that sort of pocket, assuming that the astral abandons the hole. Even longer to really start corrupting or changing the leylines, but I’m inclined to believe our goal is to stop this before anybody else catches wind of a Plague Astral this deep into the Nature flight’s territory” Soaldsul said, fins perking up. Aku had gotten a little good at working out his body language to notice what cues meant he was _really_ done with a train of thought.

“That’s true, enough dragons are keeping their eyes peeled for _shifty behavior_ from plaguelings in the maze after all of that drama. This would be enough to rile up some of the more militant clans” Nijini remarked.

“I’d say we should take up this clan’s offer. If they know enough about these creatures to go to great lengths to warn other clans about them, they’ll probably help us be rid of it if we asked” Soaldsul all but stated. He even gave Aku a pointed look.

“I’d _like_ to, but I don’t think that would be well received. I’m certain Ohm would do it if he caught wind of any of this. On the other hand, I’d imagine some would take this as admitting defeat before even _trying_ to fix this ourselves. Or worse…”

Aku trailed off. He’d been there since practically the beginning of the clan as a proper and independent Clan. His father, and the clan’s current leader, had always said things started to become more like that after he had started a family of his own, and had taken in a small number of other dragons.

That being said, most of the other long-standing clan members wouldn’t agree with being so hasty. While it wasn’t a memory for many, the first time the clan was properly attacked was because they were too quick to assume that the outside world would be keen on being their friends. One of the few signs of the beastclans starting to really test their limits with organized raids. It stung even worse since the group had led the then small clan to believe that they would be allies, and that they didn’t have to worry about their differences. The number of losses were small when compared to the clan’s current numbers, but proportionate to the 14-dragon group they were, the cost was high.

Times were different, and he certainly wasn’t necessarily the same dragon from before who would have pushed for isolation from the greater world. Times were better and it wasn’t as if it was another mock peace offering from an organized group of beastclans who were bent on driving them away. It also helped that more dragons in the clan were open-minded enough for that to be a passable idea.

Still, they’d been isolated for so long before starting to get into contact with greater sornieth and other clans again, he couldn’t tell how well the other, long-standing clanmates would take them _quickly_ asking a strange clan for aide.

“I _think_ … I think I’ll ask Ohm if he can get Ibiliven himself to deal with this first. If he can’t do it, _then_ we’ll reach out and ask for help. At the very least most of the others will think it’s sensible” Aku said tentatively.

He got up, and began to leave. He only paused after he heard Nesaini try one last time.

“Or, you could just _talk_ to it. Have reaching out be for if we can’t talk it out of doing that and Ibiliven can’t deal with it” Nesaini said.

Aku ignored her as he walked off to go find his father. Asking him about the situation was at least worth a shot. Nesaini’s plan seemed _terrible_ , and he would rather let the migrane worsen than try _talking_ the Astral into leaving.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aku has a meeting with his father and Clan Ibiliven's leader, Ohm, to see if he can get his adoptive grandfather to fight the creature. Things don't go as well as he'd like in this conversation.

“I’ve figured it out, I think. At the very least I figure it’s a good start to get your opinion on what to do.”

Ohm gave a hum and looked up at Aku from his own business and seat. Aku figured it was something to do with organizing resources and sorting out the daily affairs. The clan Patriarch’s desk was particularly covered in papers today, no doubt from the hold up the sudden illness had caused on the clan’s wellbeing. Sure, they didn’t have a terrible large number of allies, but being neighborly with other nearby and adjacent clans hadn’t significantly hurt them in the past.

“So, it’s some _good_ news and some _bad_ news,” Aku began.

Aku took a deep breath to carefully gauge if it was a good time to bring up the issue. At this point his father and the clan patriarch’s attention was on him, but he hadn’t gotten up from his seated position.

“Good news is, is that we _definitely know_ what is likely the cause of the flu, as well as some of the other things,”

After a pause, mostly to shake off his ever-present headache that he’d only just gotten the day prior, he continued.

“It is a creature called an Astral. We’re sure of it since what has been happening does match some of the general descriptions of astrals. At the very least, the flyers and information that has been spread recently leads me to believe that’s what this is”

Ohm stood up. He began to pace a bit, mulling his thoughts over.

“Where did you get this information? Did Soaldsul know something?” Ohm asked, turning to look at him.

“Well, _sorta_ … He got it from a flyer from one of the busier spots in the Labyrinth. This clan, Clan Analemma, has been _particularly_ interested in catching astrals,” Aku replied.

“Do you have a copy of the flyer?”

“Yeah, just give me a minute” Aku blurted as he quickly dug through his belongings, before pulling out the parchment and handing it to Ohm.

Ohm paused as he started to skim the paper. Aku would have been more nervous if his head didn’t feel like it was on **_fire_**. Some part of him really disliked how the headache was infecting his mood, but he really did need to get this all straightened out first.

“So, what is the bad news?” Ohm asked.

“Well…. Soaldsul has suggested that we just _give them_ the astral. I don’t think any of our clanmates are going to be keen on letting them _waltz in_ and just take it. Privacy and the fact that we’ve been self-sufficient and alone for what’s practically a whole age,”

“Well it’s not directly on top of our lair. I don’t see the problem,” Ohm prompted.

“I think, at the very least, we should get Ibiliven to talk to it and convince it to go” Aku suggested.

Ohm gave a bit of a knowing chuckle.

“I’m just going to stop you there. That’s a _terrible_ idea.”

“Why not? If he’s anything like you, he could probably talk it into having _tea_ with us” Aku immediately shot back.

“I know he’s our clan’s namesake, and a very powerful dragon, but he’s also my adopted father. I know he’ll just want to _fight_ it,” Ohm responded.

“But you’re a **_huge_** softy!”

“Sure, but Ibiliven is about as friendly as an angry mother boar is. He’ll want to fight it, and likely try to use this as grounds to actually start the old campaign up again,” Ohm finished.

Aku gave him a questioning look

“He’s a figure of some importance in our area due to his unwavering loyalty to the Gladekeeper and his zealousness. Sure, his old exploits have fallen into obscurity at best and has been forgotten at worst, but this would be the best excuse to persuade the Gladekeeper in actually resuming the fight against the Plaguebringer” Ohm stated.

“You’re _that_ sure of it?” Aku questioned.

“Tensions are already high after the armistice was broken, that’s arguably **_why_** he’s come out of hiding in the first place. He’s looking for a fight and will suspect this the same way’s he’s scrutinized Yugona’s disappearance. The collateral damage of ‘vanquishing’ the astral alone is going to cost everyone dearly” Ohm finished.

“I just don’t think anybody would be happy about letting absolute _strangers_ come and take it either!” Aku protested.

“What we’re going to do is a _compromise_ ” Ohm began, looking at Aku from behind his desk.

“We will write to this clan and try to discuss this with them. It’s a shame it couldn’t be over better circumstances or a nice meal, but we will talk to them. We will even go so far as to guide them in our clan’s general territory and compensate them if they need to stay for a while”

Aku thought about that in the pause Ohm gave while he briefly looked over the scattered papers on his desk. It seemed like a fair enough compromise. One that would hopefully not bother too many of his clanmates.

“In return, we keep the astral”

“ _Why_? It’s more trouble than it’s worth” Aku asked

“I think it’d be in everybody’s better interest. Ideally it would make for a great representative to prospective plague allies, at worst Ibiliven would _hate_ it if we just let it off the hook for all the hurt it’s caused. You really don’t want to see what that sort of anger looks like” Ohm responded. There was a tenseness to his voice that Aku picked up on. Like knowing how dangerous a sword was without having to be struck by one.

“Of course, you’re immediately thinking we can just _befriend_ it and it’ll want to stay in our clan”

“For somebody who’s dabbling in being a druid, you have very little faith in resolving things non-violently” Ohm commented.

Aku cracked a smile. At least it wasn’t so serious that his father couldn’t afford to give some playful jabs.

“I’m at the very least inclined to say that if they have a wealth of information about astrals, they’ll know a way to strip it of these negative affects while still leaving the physical creature” Ohm continued on, quickly jotting down some note on a stray piece of scrap paper.

“So, what do we do?” Aku asked.

“The flyer is straightforward. We do need to bring them the astral, alive at that. We’ll meet them near one of our borders. It’s a shame they really aren’t closer.” Ohm stated, as he immediately set about cleaning his little office, starting with tidying up his desk.

“Of course, we’re going to have to make sure our little astral friend doesn’t wander, ideally we do this before Ibiliven notices anything is astray. That, I leave with you” he continued.

Aku sputtered a bit from what he was doing.

“Why _me_? We have plenty of dragons who would be powerful enough to haul it in. Couldn’t we just get Yelic or Tandel to do it? They have an elemental advantage” He pointed out.

“Be reasonable Aku. Tandel is an Archivist, _not_ an Archmage. Yelic wouldn’t leave his post unless it was necessitated, and just because he’s a tough fighter doesn’t mean he can just _banish it_ to some far-flung corner of Sornieth. As much as it begrudges me to suggest it given our current predicament, it couldn’t _hurt_ to convince it to cooperate and stay until we get these moving parts sorted out. The last impression we need to these dragons is that we’re okay with holding anybody against their will here, even if they’re an astral” Ohm concluded.

“I can at least do half, since it doesn’t seem to roam too far from where it’s camped out and isn’t going out of it’s way to attack dragons. At least so long as our clanmates also keep a healthy distance from it” Aku sighed. He really wasn’t getting any sort of break from this whole problem.

Ohm and Aku shared a look. That observation was an easy enough one to work with. Especially with so many dragons sick, it wouldn’t be hard to convince others to steer clear of that given area.

“I will approve the letter you'll write and send it to them if you can convince the astral to stay and do this of it’s own volition”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aku has been asked to persuade the Astral to stay. This is neither an easy nor a peaceful endeavor for the young tundra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((It can be assumed that these dragons are in full form here unless otherwise mentioned. There is some fever dream-related psychological horror present in this chapter as well as a mild trigger warning for mentions of vomit at the end of the chapter.))

Aku hated trudging out in the dark. He figured he might as well give Nesaini’s _terrible_ idea a shot, now that he had to convince the creature to go along with this. He wasn’t going to expect anything good to come about from it, but he was going to try.

  
So, this is how he wound up following trails that looked like somebody had salted the dirt as they were walking. It was the middle of the night, and he had hoped that perhaps it would be more docile after dark. Either that, or he was absolutely going to walk into a trap. At the very least he left a very well written note before heading out.

  
It didn’t take long with retracing his steps to find the pool again. Naturally, it’d grown _worse_.

  
The stench of miasma hung heavier, and it seemed like much more of the adjacent plants were wilting and dying. The pool itself seemed deeper, and the ground itself looked red and inflamed around it. Ignoring the pounding headache, he shifted from full draconic to a midform and knelt down. It was rather interesting, to see what seemed like skin actually beginning to grow from the pool’s perimeter.

  
This had been the third time on his own that he had tried approaching the creature. Each time, the creature would resist any attempts at talking. It would Swat him, throw him, screech into the night, _anything_ it seemed to think of (short of throwing him to the pool) that could drive Aku away. Aku would still try to talk to it, because he could tell the thing did understand and was just trying to pointedly ignore and disregard him. If he had to suffer this headache, he would bother the beast into talking if it could get the problem solved. If he had to suffer a headache, so did the astral.

  
He saw the great creature walk up to him slowly, and kneel down to meet his face. Its maw seemed to big and too long.

  
  
“… Why do you persist?”

  
“What?”

  
“You keep breaking expectations. You are too dense to stop interfering, but for a creature weak to my element, you struggle terribly, yet remain…”

  
The creature managed to pantomime a shrugging gesture using its tail.

  
  
“… surprisingly _resilient_ in the face of this all. That is somewhat admirable.”

  
Aku stood still, watching it. He wasn’t able to make out if it simply had markings that looked like bones, or actual bones on the outside.

  
  
“The best I can do is thrive in the face of adversity. It’s the least she expects from us,”

  
“You do this to prove yourself to an uncaring deity. The Plaguebringer is the only one who seems to care for her kind, even if it is harsh”

  
“You’re an astral though. What do you have to gain by siding with one of the eleven?”

  
“Nothing in particular, but neither do you”

  
“The Plaguebringer and the Gladekeeper are like twins unto each other. Couldn’t it be argued that what she’s doing for us is just as worthy to be considered for our own benefit?”

  
  
Aku hoped going along with the conversation would make the astral leave on its own. If he could talk it to going to bother the dragons in the plaguelands with this nonsense, it might genuinely be better for both parties.

It paused, briefly considering what Aku had brought up. Aku soaked up the pain-filled silence. His head was pounding now. It seemed his headache was flaring up now that he was right in front of the Astral.

  
“Perhaps… but this is all fascinating to watch. You’re a hardy lot, and it makes sense in a way why she would want this… but still, you’re nothing more than pathetically mortal creatures. Especially coddled by the deities, but still fleeting little things.”

  
It continued on its monologue.

  
“Why does she care about such fragile creatures and then send them to fight her own battles? Especially against others who have proven time and again they don’t ever truly play fair.”

  
Aku paused, catching his breath. It was growing a bit harder to breathe. He didn’t ponder the Astral’s train of thought, more preoccupied with his own struggles.

  
  
“Heh, no _good_ answer? No good reason to explain why they wouldn’t make you any greater or stronger than you already are? Why they have thrown you all to the winds of the world with no preparation or ability to survive indefinitely like they do? No solution to fix their own quarrels and problems but still expect you all to try in their place despite your pathetic, finite little lives?”

  
“Why are you so taken by the Plaguebringer then? Why are you _here_?”

  
The question, this time, had seemingly caught the creature off-guard.

  
“If you really don’t care to the affairs of mortal dragons, why are you here, testing us? Why not leave? Wouldn’t that be the just thing to do then?”

  
“I love a challenge. The ground gives, but it doesn’t give _easily_ to me.”

“Then leave. Go to the Plaguebringer. The ground will be more receptive of you there.”

  
“I will not leave.”

  
“That’s hardly a _fair_ answer.”

  
“Nothing has ever been fair by design. I cannot leave.”

  
“Can’t or won’t?”

  
“I cannot, nor will I. I was brought to this plane, arguably _against_ my own will, by your mortal lot. You have all brought this upon yourselves, why complain about suffering the consequences. If anything, I’m trying to _help_ your kind. The least you could do is help me in return”

  
“Making my clan sick is not fixing your problem. If you told us how we can help you, or even what your problem _is_ , we might be able to help.”

  
“… I am not a thing to tame. Leave me alone.”

  
And that was the end of the conversation. The creature grabbed him by the scruff of the neck (not unlike grabbing a stubborn kitten) and very quickly threw him into a nearby tree. Aku gave a very pained wheeze as he felt something break in him. He laid there a while, trying to shake off the pain of getting winded. He was so tired, but also in so much pain. He couldn’t ignore it long enough to sleep. He felt himself get up, and limp away. He didn’t bother looking at the large gash across his left arm.

* * *

  
  
He tried again, a few other times in the same night and a few more times the following night. The astral would ignore him a few other times. It was on the seventh consecutive attempt at a conversation that the beast seemed to relent again. At this point, it was becoming less and less difficult to track down the Astral, and on this particular instance, it seemed to wait for him specifically.

  
“There is something I need. Bring me a tusk from a great beast.”

  
Aku had done that, and done that _gladly_. He struggled to procure a tusk from the rare giant boars that were found occasionally in the labyrinth. There were winged offshoots that lived closer to the light and plague lands.

  
After being given the tusk, the creature threw it to the pool and watched it calcify and then sink to the bottom.

  
“Bring me a branch off of a dead tree.”

  
Aku did what the creature asked, no witty comment included. Once he had showed it the branch, the creature threw it to the pool and watched it dissolve before what remained began to sink.

  
“Not so chatty tonight?” Aku asked between very loud wheezes.

  
“Perhaps it is just an effect of this world. It is something perplexing that I’ve noticed about you, and I suppose about me”

  
The great creature, which vaguely resembled a Gaoler, sighed.

  
“You cling to each other like you will surely perish should anything stop looking at you. An odd sort of thing that I suppose is a good strategy of survival, depending on others so you can be depended upon. It is a kind of companionship I’ve never known.”

  
“So you _feel bad_ for all the wrong things you’ve done?” Aku deliberately asked

  
“I don’t know what wrong is, it’s not in my nature as an astral” The astral said coyly. Aku was sure it had acquired sarcasm at this point among other things.

  
  
He stared at it as it seemed to pause, as if considering a thought.

  
“I shall strike a bargain with you” it finally spoke.

  
Aku gave it a questioning look.

  
“There is something at the bottom of the pool. If you retrieve it for me, I will go _willingly_ with whatever plan your lot has. Survive, and prove me wrong, and perhaps I would be more willing to concede your points. There isn’t necessarily one correct way to survive after all.”

  
Aku looked at him, ignoring the ever-growing pain that was gnawing at him. Every breath he took stung, and continuing to talk to the astral was taking a toll. He likely wouldn’t be able to keep up with this for much longer. A nasty gash he’d gotten on one of his arms from getting thrown the night before also seemed to just radiate pain.

  
“Fine” Aku growled.

  
“Are there any hints as to what I’m to look for?” he asked.

  
“You’ll know it when you find it” the astral cryptically replied.

  
“That’s surprisingly fair, coming from you.”

  
“Nothing is fair.”

  
“Sure, but knowing you it’s fair in of itself”

  
“Whatever will help you rest. All I ask is that you wait for tomorrow before doing it. You know what dragons say about rest”

  
  
Aku grumbled. _Sure. Why not._

He trudged back. He felt queasier with each passing step. It felt like an eternity with the searing pain in his arm and the pounding of his head before he managed to quietly slip back into his bed and try to sleep.

* * *

The dream was fretful. He was walking towards the spot, and everything looked like it had died. The trees looked bleached white; the ground thick with questionable mud. He kept walking. Something in him urged him to keep going.

  
He kept walking, even as the environment began to look like flesh.  
He kept walking, even as the meat of the world began to rot.  
He kept walking, until he came upon the pool. Bailuk was waiting there.  
He didn’t know where he’d heard the name, but he was certain that it was the astral’s name.

  
  
He felt himself go into the pool.  
He swam, it seemed as thick as mucus.  
It felt clear like swimming through cold water.  
It felt warm, like a particularly cozy den.

  
He saw what was at the bottom of the pool. It looked like him, in some odd way. Like he’d lost all of his fur and had grown tumors and more horns in the place of fur. He looked at himself there, breathing the water despite it being thicker than slime.

  
The other him, his eyes looked dead. Like a fish left outside for too long. He had funny blotches all over him. The vacant eyes didn’t even seem like they could look at him, but Aku to tell that it was watching him.

  
It was holding a tusk.

He lunged in the water for the tusk, and felt it grab at him.

  
He thrashed, trying to desperately not breath in the slime, as he felt the creature embrace him.

  
He struggled. He felt his arm spasm as he noticed it fixing itself. Bone had adorned the outside. Eyes had adorned the outside. A mouth had adorned the outside. He could tell that this was also him, and he was smiling at himself. He saw another arm beginning to push itself upward through the bone covering his skin. As if something was trying to break through.

  
He watched the other creature, the not-him reach out and gently caress his face. He couldn’t get out he _needed to get out_ **_he wanted to get out._**

  
He woke up. He felt better. So much better. He walked out to the clan commons. It seemed better. Everyone was better.

  
A bunch of dragons were gathered around something. He pushed his way through the croud and saw it.

  
It was a nest of eggs, and a hatchling had come out already. They seemed to be waiting for something. The eggs were all rotted, but healthy hatchlings still managed to pry themselves from the eggs.

  
He stepped on an egg and felt it _squish_ under his paw. Everybody began to cheer. One of the hatchlings approached him.

  
The hatchling bit his arm, perhaps teething. He felt his arm squish like mush under the bite. Everybody began to cheer harder.

  
He pulled his paw back. It stuck to the floor. The hatchling had great tusks and some of him had caught on them.

* * *

  
  
He lurched forwards with a gasp and heaved hard over the side of his bed. It _burned_. He blearily looked up. It didn’t seem to even be _dawn_ yet.

  
He remembered the dream. Or at least parts of it. He wasn’t sure what it was that woke him up, but the dreams were weird. He felt himself lean back into his bed and just wait to eventually wear out enough to fall asleep again. He idly looked at his arm.

  
He didn’t remember _wrapping_ it. Poking it a little, he winced as he immediately felt the gash flair up. He decided he didn’t want to look under the wrappings just yet. It felt inflamed. He would deal with this _later_. He had a couple of things to do and still wanted some kind of rest. He didn’t want to think about having to clean up the mess he just made right next to the bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aku takes up Bailuk's challenge. As with everything Bailuk does, the astral tries to cheat the game to their advantage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Unless mentioned, all the dragons are in full draconic besides Aku who starts off in an anthro form. There’s some t.w’s for some bodyhorror towards the end of this as well as there being some violence in this chapter.))

After cleaning up the mess and taking care of a few affairs he needed to get done in the morning, Aku figured he was _ready_. He didn’t really have much to do unfortunately, with so many dragons being _ill_. Most of his affairs were just making sure that nothing had significantly worsened. He hoped that after doing this one thing for the astral, it would be appeased enough to at least _say_ that it’d go along with this plan. After that, maybe _then_ the clan could exile him or something. As it stood between what the astral had told him and what his father had told him, they were going to have to work out something peacefully, voluntarily, and with a third party. He _hated_ that.

* * *

  
He _hated_ it as much as the growing headache that had made itself comfortable in the corners of his mind. It was growing more difficult to focus when every thought felt like it was giving his brain yet another paper cut.

  
That being said, he wasn’t foolhardy _not_ to leave a note, in the event that he wasn’t going to come back. He figured it was written well enough that it should suffice should the worst happen. He wasn’t going to wait until nightfall like the previous discussions, so it would be noticed fast if he dissapeared.

  
He shifted from a mid-form to his full form and then took off at a brisk walk. He really didn’t trust himself to _fly straight_ in his current position. It was not very hard to find the astral, and true to its word, it was waiting for him by the edge of it’s mock-wyrmwound.

  
Aku then limped towards the pool, shifting back to a mid-form. The ground felt softer and more giving despite how blighted it all looked. He decided to _not look_ when he felt the ground give a little and ooze something.

  
He looked at the now desecrated pond, and took a deep breath. Then he dove into the pool.

  
He really _didn’t_ like it. It felt like trying to swim through slime. He tried to keep his mind off of it. Sure, it was a pretty bad idea to try swimming to the bottom of it blind, but it wasn’t as if he had anything that would work in place of goggles, either in terms of applicable magic or actually practical pieces of clothing.

  
As he kept swimming deeper, he felt a claw hit what seemed to be the bottom of the pool. He couldn’t feel anything, so he started to swim back to the surface.

  
As he managed to get back to the surface, he gasped. He felt his arms flail for a second, trying to shake off the slime. He blearily tried to get the mucus from his eyes but found that he couldn’t. He took another deep breath and decided to try again, if the pool seemed to only have the mucus and wasn’t deep. It didn’t seem to be all that challenging.

  
So he tried again.

  
He felt himself swim to the bottom, this time with some more ease. He pointedly _didn’t think_ about how gross the whole ordeal was. This time, once he hit the bottom, he felt something brush against his claw. He quickly grabbed it with the claw. He didn’t dare open his eyes, but it felt kind of like some kind of polished bone. This was probably what the Astral had meant.

  
As he managed to come up to the pool’s surface, he felt something land on him. Something heavy. He felt himself beginning to sink again, trying not to panic and open his mouth. He would kill the astral himself if he had to breathe in any of _this gunk_.

  
He clawed at the surface, which seemed to grow a film on it between when he had entered and the present moment he was going to leave. After some struggle, he felt the very cold air greet his claws. He greedily took in a breath, even if his lungs hurt when taking such a deep breath. As he paddled away, he felt a wing bat him back into the water. He felt his face get dunked into the slime, and this time he swam forwards a bit and the tried to clear the mucus from his eyes again. This time he had more luck as he managed to open his eyes.

  
He tried to turn around to see what it was and was sent reeling as another blow hit him hard across his muzzle. He started to try to swim backwards, in a bit of a daze. After blinking away the dizziness, he turned around to see his assailant.

  
He felt himself gasp as he started to swim backwards.

  
It was Haren. Or at least it _sort of_ looked like it. There was a dead look in his eyes, like a fish left out to rot. His wings looked mangled, and looked more like heavy clubs. The red welts on his wings had spread further and further and had grown into cancerous bulbs across his skin. He felt himself try to quickly heal the dragon by throwing a mild healing spell on it.

  
The cysts on the wings grew even larger in response. Haren, or the creature that seemed to be what was left of him, leapt onto the tundra. Aku felt it tearing at his fur. He mentally thanked the gladekeeper that his fur would buy him enough time to swim away had Haren managed to _only_ tear that out.

  
He quickly started to think about swears once it became apparent that his own fur was going to cause him to sink. It was growing more difficult to swim through the pool, as the mucusy film that had grown was now causing him to slow down in the water.

  
He felt himself clawing at the water as he was sinking further, feeling the dragon push him into the pit. One well-placed claw seemed to make a resounding _slap_ against the astral.

  
He saw the astral reel backwards from the blow out of his periphery.

  
He could feel the temperature drop abruptly. This gave him more incentive to drag himself from the pool as he felt the dragon bearing down on him turn as if distracted by the commotion. The last thing he needed was to get maimed in whatever was actively happening. Aku figured that took more of a priority than trying to figure out what had happened in his periphery. He was pretty sure he came alone, and that Bailuk was out of his reach.

  
“This was a bold, if very stupid, move to pull Aku.”

  
Aku recognized Soaldsul’s flat voice. He really hoped that none of the other dragons who could foreseeably take Bailuk in a fight would actually interfere. He felt like it _had to_ be him to bring Bailuk to cooperate, and him alone.

  
As he managed to drag himself from the pool, he gave a stray glance around to work out what had happened exactly. He then groaned when he saw Vatrel. _Of course_.

  
The aforementioned spiral had his claws (sans any protective wraps or gloves) firmly planted in the skin-like shore of the pond, and the ice that flowed from his clawtips was spreading. It didn’t seem to be spreading fast, since the Astral’s power had seeped for long enough to stick. Still it had taken enough root to be freezing the environment over.

  
He scrambled forwards a few more feet as he remembered that Haren was still there, and still a threat. The nocturne had managed to lug himself out of the pool, but the growths covering him were now slowing down. His audible wheezing also betrayed his true nature. Aku hoped that there would be some sort of way to reverse what had happened. He then felt his headache dull.

  
Everything felt, for lack of a better term, pretty _fuzzy_.

  
He felt himself walking forwards briefly. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was certain that he had to move. He saw a blue looking creature. It was blue, small, and screeching wildly. Everything about it felt _viscerally wrong_ and his own instincts drove him forward to try to push it away.

  
His headache returned almost as swiftly as it had left, and he felt himself start to trip as he lunged forwards.

  
He next felt himself getting flung off of Soaldsul, and hitting a tree. He felt himself fall into a crumpled heap, entirely disoriented about what had just happened.

He started crawl backwards, now abruptly. There were more voices in the distance, alongside the growls of the astral. He was absolutely sore, but he was more concerned with getting out of the way of the fight that seemed to be starting in his daze.

  
As he felt himself come out of the daze that he’d found himself in, he took in the sight that was in front of him.

  
Several dragons were there besides Soaldsul and Vatrel. Haren was now being restrained by a pair of tundras he recognized as a pair who directly guarded the lair. Ark was also present, as was Nesaini and Nijini. It figured the dragons he’d had the meeting with and those they spoke to would be involved.

  
It wasn’t that they had the beast _cornered_ , but it seemed the numbers alone made them a possible match.

  
Bailuk looked from a distance, shaking off what looked like frostbite and growling ominously. At this point it stopped really looking similar to a Gaoler. Its whole maw was wide in a grin, with teeth of varying sizes poking out. Its Cheshire grin spanned it’s whole front, from neck down to torso.

  
For some reason, he felt the urge to _show_ what he’d gotten from the pool.

“Is this what you’re after” Aku said as he held out what he’d found. It looked like some sort of polished rib bone.

  
This caused the astral to let out a noise that seemed like half of a throaty laugh, and half a fairly broken sob.

  
“That is… And since you outnumber me at this point, you seem to have me beat” It said.

  
After a beat, the creature groaned.

  
“I will stick to my word. I was never going to play fair, but it seems you weren’t going to _either_ , were you?”

  
Aku just stared. His head _still_ pounded. His arm _still_ stung. It wasn’t a satisfying resolution that he would have liked. It just _was_ what it was.

  
“I suppose if you’ve survived well enough, and I likely won’t if I don’t cooperate…” Bailuk continued.

  
He felt several dragons tug him along back to the direction of their lair. As he started to walk back, he heard the Astral begin to follow. Hopefully explaining this to the rest of the clan that wasn’t sick wouldn’t end in disaster. Trying to reverse this whole mess would be a whole other problem.

  
That being said, the first priority was letting them know and getting that letter written up.

* * *

Aku had hoped the letter would make great time, but he figured if the clan’s resident mail aficionado was on it, it would probably get there _reliably fast_.

  
The original pond it’d made it’s home in couldn’t be foreseeably drained in the future, and it was decided that aside from occasionally frosting the area continuously, they would just let the land recover on it’s own. Everything around it was already primed with nature magic.

  
Bailuk insisted he needed _another pit_ though. He practically demanded it with a feral fervor. As the clan’s illness seemed to recede, and the dragons who were sick were now all the stronger because of it, it didn’t take long to _just dig_ a sizeable pit to it’s liking. Most of the dragons had recovered completely barring Haren (who’s condition was much more complicated and needed to be in a quarantine to prevent him from attacking other dragons ferally) and Aku. Aku had found that while he had mostly healed well, the headache still lingered like a cat that was cozy and refused to leave.

  
He was also charged with making sure Bailuk wouldn’t immediately resume what he was doing. The pit was near the lair but much deeper to prevent another outbreak, and he had to stop bailuk every once in a while from beginning another scab in the earth. It really didn’t help that Bailuk was like a conveniently placed bread starter (if the bread was instead a virulent wound that mirrored the wyrmwound). It also didn’t help when its true nature began to shine through further, showing that while it was approximately _Gaoler-sized_ , it really didn’t follow a natural map for draconic anatomy that even the ancient Gaolers followed. Too many teeth, too many eyes, and other such oddities were growing more noticeable each passing day.

* * *

  
It wouldn’t be long before a small tundra courier is spotted near a border. Chubby is quick work her way to either the nearest post office or adjacent organization and get the mail on its way before turning tail and trekking back towards her clan.

> “Dear Clan Analemma,
> 
>   
> We hope this letter reaches you well.
> 
>   
> We believe that an Astral has taken residence near our clan. It seems to have grown attached to us, in a sense. While we have managed to persuade it to cease its initial plan, it does not seem to want to leave. We have seen the postings that your clan has released to Sornieth about these astrals and acknowledge that it is important to turn over any found astrals to your clan. They are dangerous creatures and it has already done us quite a bit of harm.
> 
>   
> That being said, the astral does not wish to leave. It has proven difficult to get it to cease what it was originally doing, and the only compromise we have found so far is to simply offer it a different pit to reside in than the pond it had created. On top of that it has shown a greater interest in our clan than it had shown prior and seems to want to join our clan (even if it stubbornly refuses leave the new pit its sitting in).
> 
>   
> While we are not always to most peaceable of clans, we won’t oust the astral outright if it wishes to join our clan. At the very least it seems like a creature that can (and has) been reasoned with, and not just a creature acting out in its own nature. We have assumed since your clan has a wealth of information about astrals, you might have more than one way to resolve this issue rather than trying to turn over an unwilling astral who isn’t keen to leave. Especially if they seem genuinely interested in joining our clan.
> 
>   
> We are more than willing to meet your clan at the half-way point, however that may be. Between guiding any dragons you send over to our clan’s territory, providing food and shelter, we are willing to compensate you for your time or resources for this. This has proven to be something our clan cannot deal with by itself.
> 
>   
> Aku, of Clan Ibiliven”


End file.
